The Angry Ninja
by dave-d
Summary: Naruto is in a foul mood after reading fan fictions. Can a certain person calm him down? Will her different views set him off even more? [One Shot] MODIFIED SOMEWHAT on 11 18 2005


**A/N:**

_This site allows folks to write stories they want with certain limitations. It does not mandate that anyone adheres to canon, and it does not exclude stories that some people might find objectionable. That is all good._

_That being said, there are people who do not like shōnen-ai, yaoi, shōjo-ai, or yuri stories. I count myself among that number. For those that do like such stories, 'The Angry Ninja' may not be a story you will like to read. In this fiction, Naruto takes offense at people writing stories about him that don't fit his view of the world. _

**_x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x _**

The Konoha Library was quiet.

Librarians and volunteer workers had all gone home for the night, and the kindly old janitor was on his dinner break.

Lights were still on in some of the rooms, even though the book stacks themselves were all shrouded in darkness. The Reference Room of the building was open all night, providing shinobi a chance to gain access to certain scrolls, tomes, and manuscripts. Ninjas with proper identification were also allowed use the Personal Computers set up on large wooden desks salvaged from the old library.

Peck peck peck peck _whack whack whack whack_ **_WHAM WHAM WHAM_**

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Peck peck peck peck _whack whack whack whack_ **_WHAM WHAM WHAM_**

The sound of loud banging came from within the well lit room, punctuated by occasional angry grunts, exasperated sighs, and assorted heartfelt curses. It sounded as if someone was hammering away at one of the computer keyboards; but, why would someone be making that kind of racket?

Hinata rubbed her fingers together. Kurenai had given her a reading assignment, as a way to prepare for a new jutsu that she was going to teach her. Some of the old parchments would hold the necessary background information she needed, and there might even be an online source of facts that would help.

Peck peck peck peck _whack whack whack whack_ **_WHAM WHAM WHAM_**

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Standing outside of the room, the white-eyed girl pulled at some of her hair, and then nibbled on her fingernails. Maybe she should come back later. She was almost a little bit frightened, hearing the volume of noise coming from inside the room. But, she was a shinobi of the Leaf. If someone was defacing their facilities, she had a duty to put a stop to it.

Would it be better to reconnoiter by herself, or would it be wise to seek safety in numbers before proceeding? No, that was ridiculous. She would feel silly, dragging a senior ninja or any of her peers into the library, only to find that someone was working on a report or some kind of administrative project. Still, the sounds were remarkably loud and out of place in a library. Who could possibly make such a racket? Why would anyone make so much noise?

Peck _whack **WHAM**_ peck _whack **WHAM**_peck _whack** WHAM **_peck _whack** WHAM**_

Peck _whack **WHAM**_ peck _whack **WHAM**_peck _whack** WHAM **_peck _whack** WHAM**_

Swallowing hard, Hinata squared her shoulders and removed a handful of shuriken from her weapons pouch. Taking a deep breath and letting it out, she prepared herself mentally for Kaiten if need be. Doing her best to remain stealthy, she moved into the vestibule of the large room, creeping alongside large stacks and crouching down behind bulky cubicles and cabinets.

"It's probably nothing," Hinata whispered to herself. "I can do this."

_**WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM**_

An ungodly snarling noise could be heard for a moment. That was followed by a string of curses and words so colorful that Hinata didn't even know the meaning of most of them. The voice sounded familiar. If any one in the village had grown adept at recognizing the various inflections, cadences, and tonal characteristics of the village's most unpredictable ninja, it was Hyuuga Hinata.

Now, instead of feeling frightened or concerned, the girl began to feel anxious and shy. Was that Naruto? If it was, would he be by himself? Could she walk into a room with him, alone, just the two of them? Might she faint again?

Peck peck peck peck _whack whack whack whack_ **_WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM_**

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"Bastards!" That was Naruto's voice. No doubt about it. "Dirty… perverted… sick… disgusting bastards!" The sound of a fist slamming down against the thick ok of a table top echoed through the room and adjacent hallway. "They do this kind of stuff when I'm not around. If I caught them doing it, I would kick their asses. They probably work for the Sound. This all sounds like something Orochimaru would like. Maybe it's some of the jerks that used to work for Akatsuki. _Losers!"_

Hinata took a few tentative steps closer to the corner. Once she passed around the edge of one final cabinet, she would come into view. She swallowed hard again. While she had seen Naruto upset, and had been around him when he was angry, she had never heard him sound like this.

Peck _whack **WHAM**_ peck _whack **WHAM**_peck _whack** WHAM **_peck _whack** WHAM**_

Peck _whack **WHAM**_ peck _whack **WHAM**_peck _whack** WHAM **_peck _whack** WHAM**_

"Damn!" There was the sound of breaking plastic. A few small square objects tumbled around the bend, stopping just in front of Hinata's feet. One had a capital 'A' on it. The other read 'Caps Lock'. They were keys from a computer keyboard. "They probably look like normal people on the outside. Or maybe they're really ugly or something, and want to take it all out on me." More keys came skittering into view. "I wonder if their parents and friends know just what kind of people they really are, or what kind of stuff they spend their time writing. _Jerks!"_

Hinata peered around the corner. Naruto was there, dressed in his usual orange and black jumpsuit. His back to her, he was seated at one of the newer PCs, a number of broken keyboards scattered across the floor at his feet. A kunai was stuck into a monitor that lay broken on the floor. The innards were still emitting occasional sparks and a small trickle of smoke.

Peck peck peck peck _whack whack whack whack_ **_WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM_**

Peck peck peck peck _whack whack whack whack_ **_WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM_**

Peck peck peck peck _whack whack whack whack_ **_WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM_**

"Well, _two_ can play at that game," Naruto continued to hammer away at the keyboard, typing like a man possessed. "But, I'm not some jerk like them. I'm just teaching them a lesson!" Naruto created a number of clones. "You guys start typing on your own. Let's see if you can come up with any good ideas that I don't think up!" The clones went to turn on a number of the dormant and more or less intact personal computers flanking the one Naruto worked at.

Hinata shivered for a moment. The scene was surreal, almost nightmarish. When her curiosity outshone her shyness, she walked over to Naruto's computer. He had left it for a moment, running of to use the restroom.

"Is _this_ what has Naruto so angry?" She leafed through a large stack of papers near one of the printers. She picked one up. It was a story of some sort. The markings at the top of one page suggested that it had been taken from an online Fan Site.

One of the Naruto clones whistled loudly. The others turned to look at Hianata, causing her to blush and take a step back. The sound brought Naruto running from the bathroom, a long trail of toilet paper strung out behind him. **"Oi!" **Naruto cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hinata-chan. Don't read that stuff!"

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata let the papers fall from her hand. Her fellow ninja sounded so adamant.

"That's nothing but sick disgusting trash," Naruto said, frowning when one of the clones whispered in his ear. He clenched his teeth, removed the toilet paper, and threw it back towards the bathroom. "Most of it's written about me. But, there's plenty of stuff written about you in there. You _really_ don't want to see it!"

"Wh-What's wrong, Naruto-kun?" Hinata brought her hand to her mouth. It was a blessing of sorts, just being alone with him. A blessing, and a real challenge for her timid heart. But, while beggars can't be choosers, she would rather he was in a better mood. "What is all that?" She pointed over to the stack.

"It's Fan Fiction," Naruto said. He wrinkled his nose, as if he had just opened up one of the cartons of milk that was lost in the back of his refrigerator for a few months. "Not the good stuff, though. I like some of those."

"F-Fan F-Fiction…" Hinata twiddled her fingers, unfamiliar with that term.

"Let's just say that we have fans. You… me… and most of our friends…" Naruto shook his head. Just where had Hinata been for the last few years? She really needed to get out more! "Those people write stories, putting their favorite characters in different adventures or situations they think up."

"So, y-you're angry that Fan Fiction exists, Naruto-kun?" Hinata looked down at her feet. "Is this something n-new?"

"No… of course not… _geeez_…" Naruto frowned, putting a hand behind his neck. "That kind of stuff has been around since the beginning of time. I mean, a lot of myths and folktales are kinds of Fan Fiction. They didn't have copyright crap in the prehistoric days, so a good storyteller could change a tale any way he liked, or add whatever he wanted.

"Th-Then why…" Hinata looked up Naruto's eyes, seeing how long she could meet his gaze. It was a new personal record. Ten seconds!

"It's a matter of right and wrong, Hinata." Naruto stuck out his lip. As usual, he was very opinionated. _"_"It's a matter of sick and normal, too."

"I… I don't understand, Naruto-kun…" Hinata swallowed hard. She couldn't help not knowing. But, she didn't want Naruto to think she was worthless or stupid.

His eyes went wide… he nodded… and then he typed some more, before one idea escaped him. "Do you ever watch anime or read manga?" He asked.

"Ummm… _anime?"_ Hinata felt foolish, not knowing that word. _"Manga?"_ Did the other Kunoichi know what those terms meant?

"Anime is Japanese animation. It usually has really colorful images, vibrant characters, and all sorts of different settings and storylines, geared for a wide range of audiences." Naruto threw out his chest and stuck his thumb up against it. "'Naruto' is an anime." He struck a pose that would have had Lee envious. "Anime is usually influenced by Japanese comics known as manga."

"Is… is there a 'Naruto' manga, too?" Suddenly, Hinata's whole posture changed. At that moment, she wasn't worried about how Naruto saw her. There was a Naruto anime. There was a Naruto manga. "P-People can buy them?"

"_Sure!"_ Naruto grinned. But, that soon changed to a scowl. "I don't see a penny from it. Cheap bastards!" Then as was often the case, his attitude began soaring again. "Hey. They even have theme songs. Openings and closings. Lots of different ones. '…I wanna ROCKS. Mune ni ROCKS.' Stuff like that." He stared at Hinata for a moment. "You want to borrow some of it?"

"S-Sure…" Hinata was suddenly very unsteady on her feet. Something to watch? Something to read? Music to listen to? It was like she had died and gone to heaven.

"Fine. I'll…" Naruto looked over at the stack of papers. "Damn. I got distracted." He shrugged, looking at Hinata a bit longer. A lot of authors had the two of them hooking up. Did they know something that he didn't know? That didn't matter at the moment. "You don't read manga yet; but, I remember Neji saying you read a lot of books, right?"

"Yes, I do." Hinata nodded. "Ummm… I like to read…" She was going to say 'I like to read Romance Novels;' but that would leave her feeling foolish and embarrassed. There was no way that she could get the word 'Romance' out while she was alone with Naruto. "I like to read a lot."

"Do any of the books have the same characters?" Naruto tugged at one earlobe.

"Yes," Hinata answered. "I enjoy a story a lot more when I can identify with the characters. It feels nice to read about characters I already know. It's like having a new set of friends."

"O_k-a-a-a-ay_…" Naruto blinked rapidly. Hinata definitely needed to get out more. "Now, say you wanted to continue some of the stories yourself, would you change the setting so much that it didn't make sense anymore?"

"I don't think so." Hinata shook her head.

"Would you change the way that the characters act?" Naruto's eyes narrowed and his hands twitched. "Would you make them do things that they would never do?"

"No," Hinata replied. "They wouldn't be the same people. It wouldn't be the same story. I wouldn't use the same names." She paused. "Why would I want to do _that,_ Naruto-kun?"

"**MY QUESTION EXACTLY!"**

Naruto's anger flared up again. He brought his fist down hard on the stack of papers. He watched as the clones began disappearing, their time up. Hinata clasped her hands against her chest. Naruto was turning red in the face. It almost looked as if he had grown fangs, and that his eyes had changed. Orange chakra was swirling around him, looking somewhat like tails. They were moving too quickly to count.

After taking a few moments to catch his breath, and having drawn blood when he tested the point of his sharpest tooth, he tried to calm himself as best he could. "If you didn't like the characters, would you write about them, Hinata?"

"No," Hinata said, the sound of her heartbeat loud in her ears. She felt as if she had a lump in her throat.

"If you didn't like them, would you make really bad things happen to them, even if they were the good guys in the original story?" Naruto's fingers looked like they were growing claws.

"N-No…" Hinata twitched. Something must really be bothering Naruto.

"If you really liked them, would you do really bad things to them?" Naruto closed his eyes, shivering with rage.

N-N-Never…" Hinata had to could to clear her throat. She wished there was something she could say to make Naruto feel better.

"You're a really good person," Naruto said. "But, everybody already knows that." Naruto scratched the top of his head. "That's why you have such a big following."

"Oh." Hinata blushed. It was nice to know that she had fans. It was even better to hear Naruto say she was a nice person.

"That's a bunch of Fan Fiction over there." Naruto pointed to the stack of papers. "No. Let's just call it 'fiction'. I don't know if you can really call authors like that 'fans'. They sure don't seem that way to _me."_ He shook his head. "Maybe they're just people who can't get what they need in the real world. Maybe they have to live through someone else. Maybe they need to change things around to fit their twisted little view." He kicked at the nearest chair. Why do they have to ruin things?"

"I… I don't know, Naruto-kun…" Hinata rubbed her fingers together again. "But… ummm… I think that… ummm… you… ummm…" She looked a bit wobbly again.

"Just say it, Hinata." Naruto made a face. "It's not that I'm going to bite you or something." He felt his canines again. They were back to normal size. So were his fingers.

"I… ummm… maybe you're being too harsh, Naruto-kun." Hinata tried to meet his eyes, feeling the old urge to go and hide behind a light pole or the corner of a building. "M-Maybe that's not really fair. If you don't like that kind of story, why do you read them? And if you don't read them… ummm… why should they bother you?" Hinata bit her lip. "There… there are a lot of bad romance novels. If I come across one of those, I stop reading and throw it away."

"It's easy to say that, Hinata. You're too sweet and forgiving." Naruto was too busy pacing to take note of the red color that crept back into Hinata's cheeks. "But, those romance novels are not written about you!" He banged the desktop again.

"Yes… ummm… but…" Hinata closed her mouth. She hadn't read any of the Fan Fiction yet. What would she feel, if she came across a story with her in it?

"It's bad enough to have people jerking you and your friends around like puppets…" Naruto saw an image of Kankouro. He rubbed his eyes, making it go away. His friend may wear weird make-up and funny clothing, and he did fight with those freaky puppets, but he was an okay guy. Those puppets weren't alive. They didn't have feelings. "But, you know what? Some of this stuff really makes me wonder. No. It really makes me worry!"

"Wh-Wh-Why, Naruto-kun?" Hinata felt uncomfortable. It wasn't just that Naruto was angry. He was also so passionate. Usually, seeing his spirit shine through made her happy. At that moment, she wondered if she was lacking the kind of attitude that Naruto would find attractive.

"What kind of people are walking around out there, Hinata?" Naruto pointed out of one of the small windows dotting the room. "What kind of people are all over here and here and here?" He walked over and tapped his hand against various countries drawn on a large wall map. "Damn. It sucks that we have to deal with people like Orochimaru and Itachi. Why do we have to deal with these kinds of freaks, _too?"_ He picked up a few stories and tossed them up in the air. The papers scattered and floated down to the floor, moving in slow rocking arcs and quick straight lines.

"I… well…" Hinata shuffled her feet. She still didn't know exactly what Naruto was talking about. It was true…there were bad people out there. She had even more reason to know that than the average ninja, having been kidnapped by a member of the Cloud when she was a child. But, that didn't mean that she was willing to accept Naruto's assertions automatically. He was known to get riled up over the smallest things, sometimes. "Just because someone changes a story doesn't mean that person is terrible…"

"_Really?"_ Naruto balled up his fists. "How do _you_ know? Why would any good person attack someone's character? Tell me that! Why would some nice person purposefully ruin someone's life?"

"Th-They're just stories, Naruto-kun…" Hinata felt as if she were shrinking. Why was Naruto angry at her? "Maybe the writers are just exploring their feelings. That's… ummm… that's not always so easy." Who knew that better than Hyuuga Hinata? "M-Maybe they are writing about bad things, because danger and tragedy are exciting. I think that some people like angst and drama. It's… ummm… it's easier to deal with that in stories, than in real life…"

"Yeh, right!" Naruto slapped his forehead. "Like I said, you're just too nice. Maybe that's why you're someone I can like." Naruto coughed. "I mean…"

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata felt a jet of warmth spread through her. Her fingers felt all tingly.

"Ero-sennin writes all sorts of steamy stuff," Naruto said quickly, brushing off his last comment. "But, he doesn't name any names, and it's all normal adult stuff." He tapped at his chin with one finger. "I mean, there's lots of stuff about naked women, women with big breasts, orgies, whipped cream, special toys…" He stopped, watching as an advancing front of redness spread up along Hinata's neck and blanketed her face. "But…" He had to clear his throat. "That hairy old pervert doesn't write sick stuff."

Hinata didn't ask what Naruto meant by 'sick stuff'. She had heard enough as it was.

"And you know what else?" Naruto folded his arms over his chest.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata felt her pulse rate slowing.

"There's something else that busts my nuts!" Naruto was too furious to notice the effect that his choice of words had. "It's not really as bad as some of the other stuff; but, a lot of writers like to change around the obvious pairings. Or, they try to make up things that don't make any sense at all. Some of it is pretty damn creepy!"

"But still, Naruto-kun… they're just…" Hinata was cut-off.

"They're just stories? Is that what you were going to say, Hinata?" Naruto put his hands on his hips. "Or, they're just using their imagination? _Huh?"_ He pointed a finger at her. "Do you want me to print off some of the Gaara-Hinata stories for you to read?"

"**_E-e-p-!" _**Hinata squeaked like a large mouse caught in an even larger trap.

"Uh huh," Naruto said, pacing around the room again. "Just stories. Personal expression and imagination. That makes it all OK." He stopped and looked at Hinata again. "Hinata-Choji. Hinata-Sasuke. Hinata-Itachi." He shook his head. "I'm waiting for Hinata-Kisame and Hinata-Manda."

Hinata opened her mouth, but no sound came out. How could anyone think that she would ever show any interest in any of those pairings? If she had any fans at all, wouldn't they know her better than that?

"It's not just stories," Naruto said. "At least not for me." He looked angry enough to spit. "Do you know how many people write Naruto-Sasuke stories? Just go online and visit some of the Fan Sites. One idiot would be bad enough, but there are too many to count! That's sick enough by itself. It certainly doesn't do _me_ any damn good. I can only imagine what it must be like for the fans, trying to sort through all that shit just to find a normal story or two."

"I… it's…" Hinata still thought that Naruto was over-reacting. Just the same, while she might not get angry if someone paired her up with Kurenai or the Hokage, she would find it hard to ever leave her house again and show her face in public. Was it merely a matter of ignoring bad things? Or did Naruto have a point?

"There's not even a hint that I would feel that way for Sasuke!" Naruto kicked over a chair. "Not in the manga, and not in the anime." He picked the chair up, thought about throwing it across the room, but put it back down again. "Sure, we ended up kissing in one episode. That was accidental. You were there!" He shook his head. "The author put that in as a little comedic bit… and as a reason for all of the girls in the class to hate me at that moment."

"Ummm… not me, Naruto-kun…" Hinata twiddled her fingers. She hadn't been upset by the kiss. The thing that left her feeling sad was the fact that Naruto was named to Team Seven, but she wasn't.

"You…" Naruto swallowed hard, wondering why he was feeling so uneasy at that moment. His boundless anger soon chased that feeling away. "Damn. That kind of stuff is so stupid! Sasuke. A guy." He turned pale for a moment. Rubbing his nose, he asked "Do I look gay?"

"No!" Hinata was very adamant about that. While everyone else had laughed about Naruto's appearance in the earlier shows, she never did. She bit her lip. "Maybe that jumpsuit…"

"**W-H-A-T-?"**

"I… it's just… orange… then orange and black…" Hinata cringed. If she thought that Naruto had looked ready to explode before…

"I _like_ this outfit," Naruto said, in a hurt tone of voice. "I think it's cool. And, it's unique, like me." He struck a pose. "The color matches the chakra from…" He shut his mouth immediately. Hinata was one of the ones who still didn't know about Kyuubi, unless Neji and the others had blabbed after finding out. "As I was saying, why would fans do that kind of stuff? Are they writing the things that they want in their own lives? Do the guys want boyfriends? Do the girls get hot, reading about boys liking other boys?"

"I don't know, Naruto-kun." Hinata spread her hands apart. How could she know what other people were thinking? Her Blood Limit allowed her to see chakra flow, not feelings. "I doubt it's anything like that…"

"Maybe they don't even know why they do it!" Naruto put his hands behind his back, kicking at some of the fallen paper. "I mean, some of them claim that their stories are not OOC…"

"OOC?" Hinata bent over to pick up some of the mess on the flow. She didn't like untidiness. When she realized that Naruto had stared at her for a moment, she began blushing again and let the paper stay where it was.

"Out of character," Naruto said. "Some of them think that my liking Sasuke wouldn't be OOC, or would only be 'slightly' OOC. Shit!" He picked up one of the broken keyboards and flung it into a large trash receptacle. "They change my whole sexuality, and don't think that's out of character?" He shook his head. "That would be like their making you a slut, right?"

"…" Hinata blinked rapidly, hands twitching.

"I think it might be slightly more than OOC if they had you going down on Akamaru or something. That's no different than pairing me up with either Uchiha!" He reached out his hand to help Hinata, too late. She tripped over a chain and fell hard on her rump. "Are you OK, Hinata?"

"I'm… I'll be alright, Naruto-kun…" She turned read again when Naruto gave her a hand up.

"That kind of thing just sucks," Naruto said. "I'm not just mad for my own sake, you know. I care about my friends. I want to punch writers' lights out when I see them make my teachers a couple. How can they hook up Kakashi with Iruka?" He put both hands on his forehead protector. "Why would someone do that to them? They're really good guys!"

"Aren't… aren't there any nice stories, Naruto-kun?" Hinata looked over at the computer screen, wondering just what kind of story Naruto had been typing. Maybe she could get him to calm down some, if she reminded him of pleasant stories.

"Sure. I don't mind most of those." Naruto shrugged. "Why _should_ I? Some of the plots are a bit crazy, but that's OK. They're just stories." He frowned, seeing a 'see, I told you they were just stories' look on Hinata's face. "A lot of people like to write Naruto-Sakura stories. Those make sense." So did Sasuke-Sakura stories, but he wasn't in the mood to admit that. "I was shown chasing after Sakura in the early episodes." He frowned again. Sakura had been shown chasing after Sasuke. Most of the girls had, in one fashion or another. All except for Hinata, just as she had mentioned before. That had his eyes going wide for a moment.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata wondered what Naruto was thinking.

"Well… there's this girl in the canon story…" Naruto tried not to sound uneasy, putting his hands behind his head and walking about looking at the ceiling. "She always seems to be watching me…" He almost walked into a book case. "Not that she's a stalker or anything…" He laughed, trying to sound as if things were no big deal. "There seem to be a lot of stories pairing me up with her."

"Ummm… there _are?"_ Hinata almost tripped over the chair again. "How is any of that different than the stories that have you upset?"

"There are some hints in the manga and anime about how certain people feel." Naruto said. He stopped a moment, his thoughts latching onto something else. "You know, we can only do so much. A lot that happens to us is determined by the original author." He still had trouble accepting that part. Then again, the manga and anime only covered a few major events. There was plenty of opportunity for him and the others to do things that are never written anywhere.

"I see…" Hinata felt a bit uncomfortable, too. Was it fair, some of the things that she had been through in her life? How did she feel about being written as a shy almost feeble person early on?

"Some people really hate certain ninjas," Naruto said, clenching his fists again. "I can see them thinking about Sasuke that way…" He scratched under one armpit, not feeling one bit hypocritical. "He kind of deserves it…" His eyes narrowed. "But not Sakura-chan. Even though she was kind of useless and lame for much of the story…"

Hinata looked down at her feet. No doubt a lot of people thought the same way about her. No, maybe not. Maybe they didn't even notice her at all. That would be true to life. At least, it had been true before Naruto had encouraged her at the Chuunin exams.

"Some people really bash pretty hard on her," Naruto said, sighing. He had gotten over his crush on Sakura, for the most part. But, she was still his teammate and friend. "I think they hate her more than they hate some of the filler episodes." Well, there certainly was reason to get pissed over some of _that _junk. "Some of them even brag how much they hate her, or write good reviews when something bad happens to her. I bet they wouldn't like someone doing the same thing to _them_…"

"I…" Hinata rubbed her fingers together. "If they're only stories, maybe Sakura wouldn't care." She looked over at the glowing monitor. Were there any Hinata-bashing stories out there? She might not have gone around saying 'Sasuske-kun Sasuke-kun' all of the time, but she was kind of exasperated at her own inability to talk to Naruto. "If she doesn't ever read them…"

"…" Naruto just stared at Hinata.

It's… they're just writing about her, Naruto-kun. Maybe stories like that don't make any sense… but ummm… neither does murder… treason… or hurting the ones you love." She lowered her eyes, thinking about her own family situation. Did it make sense for parents to place clan honor so far ahead of their child's well-being? "But… none of this is as bad as any of that."

"There are people who like to hurt other people, Hinata. Maybe you have a point there." Naruto didn't pay attention to Hinata shaking her head 'no'. That hadn't exactly been the point she tried to make. "Some will at least have the guts to do it face to face with the one they want to abuse." He began emitting orange chakra again. "Writers don't."

"It's not the same," Hinata blurted out.

"Huh?" Naruto raised one eyebrow. But, after looking at Hinata for a moment he sighed. "I guess you're right, Hinata-chan. Neji always says that I have good eyes; but, you do too." His eyes narrowed again, and he shook his head. "You just don't know what some of the stories are like, though."

"…" Hinata didn't think that she wanted to know. No doubt Naruto would tell her anyway.

"Screwing up the canon stuff and writing unrealistic pairings is one thing." Naruto said. "And some of the Mary Sue stuff really gets on my nerve." He looked over at Hinata. "Don't get me started on all that shōnen-ai, yaoi, shōjo-ai, andr yuri stuff again!" The look on Hinata's face clearly said that she had no intention to."But, there's worse stuff." The look in his eyes was a terrible sight to see.

"N-N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata took a few steps back involuntarily.

"I can't believe how many stories have our friends getting raped." He couldn't meet Hinata's eyes. That whole subject had him feeling cold inside. "And, I can't believe how many of those stories have the girl falling for the rapist! Can you believe that?"

Hinata stood stunned. People wrote about things like that? She couldn't find any reason in her heart to defend something of that type.

"Yeh, it's pretty sick!" Naruto saw the look on Hinata's face. "Want to know the really sad part?" He didn't wait for an answer. "A lot of that trash is being written by teenage girls!" He pulled his kunai out of the monitor on the floor and sent it across the room, leaving it embedded deep into a wooden bookcase. "Could you ever do that, Hinata?" Naruto's voice was softer, as if he was a loss for understanding. "Could you imagine Ino, Ten Ten, or any of the others doing that?"

Hinata shook her head. She hated any movie or book that had the people in the story getting sexually abused. She liked to relate to the heroines in books, putting herself in their place as she read. She would never want anything like that happening to her.

"I just can't understand Fan Girls who do that kind of thing. It's wrong. Rape is a serious thing, not some kind of joke or gimmick. That kind of thing ruins lives." Naruto closed his eyes. He would give his life to prevent any of his friends from being abused that way. "Those people are pathetic…"

Hinata didn't have anything to say in return.

"Do teenage girls dream about that kind of thing, Hinata?" Naruto opened his eyes again. "Would they want something like that to happen to them?" He looked rattled. "They don't fantasize about things like that happening to family or friends, _do_ they?"

"N-No…" Hinata brought her hand to her mouth. "_I_ don't…"

"Then why write about it happening to anyone?" Naruto rubbed his eyes. "I… just… don't… get… it…" He made a sound deep in his throat. "There was one story that really pissed me off."

"What happened, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"They made me out to be some kind of sicko." Naruto looked at Hinata someone funny. He had an apologetic look on his face, even though he personally hadn't done anything wrong. "I really don't want to talk about it too much. I murdered people that we both care about. I abused you, but you kept coming back to me. I was so upset after reading that, I couldn't even write a review. Me, at a loss for words!"

"You would never do that, Naruto-kun." Hinata felt a slow chill creep all over her body. "You protect people. That's why you want to be Hokage some day."

"That's right, Hinata-chan." Naruto brightened up a smidgen. "But, as Hokage, I'm going to have to protect everyone, including the losers who write stuff like that!"

"Yes," Hinata said. She understood how that might be a hard thing for a just and fair leader. "But, good people can do bad things, Naruto-kun. And, they can change for the better." Hinata looked Naruto directly in the eyes. "People can change. You helped me learn that for myself." She almost said 'and that is one of the reasons I like you so much.'

"Yeh… I guess so…" Naruto fidgeted a bit, opening and closing the flap on his weapons pouch. "Even in Fan Fiction, the more normal seeming writers can go overboard." He shook his head, amazed at some of the things that he had read. "Some people get really obsessed with stuff."

"Ummm… too much of anything is bad, Naruto-kun." Hinata said.

"_Really?"_ Naruto tugged at his lower lip. "Not training. Not Ramen. Definitely not Ramen. Not manga, either." His eyes widened a bit. "How about love?"

"Oh…" Hinata looked down at her hands, her face growing warm. "Not always…" Not wanting to think too much about love or crushes with Naruto standing there, she went over and scrutinized the writing on the computer monitor. "If I hit this button here, would it delete the story?" She asked that after scrolling through a couple of pages.

"Yes. Why?" Naruto looked suspicious. "**Wait!** Don't…" He was too late. He grabbed Hinata's hand just as she was pushing the button. "Why'd you do that, Hinata!"

"It's…" Hinata looked down at her hand. Naruto still had hold of it. When he noticed, he pulled back and looked away. "Remember what I called you when you were going off to fight my cousin?"

"Huh?" Naruto rubbed his chin, thinking back.

"You were once a proud failure," Hinata said. "Now you're still proud, even though you're not a failure anymore." She looked into his eyes again. "You don't need to be a hypocrite. If you're going to protect people, you don't need to write stories where people get hurt, no matter who they are."

Naruto glared down at Hinata.He couldn't stay angry at her for very long. She looked so frail and small. But, he knew that she was much more than that. He also knew that she was right. "Thank you, Hinata-chan." Naruto managed a smile. "You could have turned out to be a very angry person, after all of the bad things that happened in your life." He smirked. "I guess it's true what some people say."

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata braced herself for a Naruto-esque moment.

"Good things come in small packages!" Naruto smiled, as if he was the village's greatest wit. That quip wasn't as funny as it might have been once, seeing that Hinata had grown. But, in the past, he had actually been an inch shorter than her.

"You… I…" Hinata didn't take offense at the joke. She wasn't all that small. But, that wasn't what mattered. Naruto thought she was good. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

That wasn't nearly enough mischief for Naruto. He thought about other types of stories that he had read. Trying to look and sound nonchalant, he asked "So, while you're here, want to read one of the nice stories with me… one with both of us in it?"

Hinata didn't answer. She knew there must be some kind of catch. It was Naruto, after all.

"You know…" Naruto could keep from grinning. "One of the stories where you and I get it on…"

"_Naruto-kun!"_

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**THE END**


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